Today, I got head lice, so I went to a store to buy medicated shampoo. When checking out the cashier saw my shampoo and asked me to leave immediately to protect the other customers. He didn't let me buy the shampoo. FML

38, that shampoo is just there to make the pharmacy look complete! it's not actually intended for purchase... obviously. I really don't get why head lice are such a big deal in the US. You just might get them sometimes, so what? They're a little itchy and not that hard to get rid of. They don't have as much to do with hygiene than to do with luck, being in the wrong place at the wrong time (your hair touching the wrong other person's hair). It is at best comparable to a cold. What's the paranoia with lice? Might as well separate yourselves from anyone who's ever coughed.

#72, while having lice isn't a serious or life-threatening concern, it is still a massive inconvenience and just plain miserable. And it can be rather difficult to get rid of due to their minuscule size and large numbers. Not to mention the hassle of eradicating them from every piece of clothing, bedding, furniture, pillows, and whatever else the infested person may have come in contact with. And if there are multiple people, especially children, living in the same home it will just increase the chances of it spreading and you having to do all of that work over and over again for each person. THAT is why people make such a big deal about lice.

I'm not sure what festering pit you live in, but no, they aren't common and are a huge deal if you're not a little kid (and sometimes they are then, too). They're not easy to get rid of either, because they're becoming immune to the treatment shampoos. I was one step away from being shaved bald back in the third grade because nothing worked - I missed three weeks of school (they kept sending me home) and because of the stigma, it severely affected my social life in school.

@99 - Lice do actually jump/crawl off your head and spread to others' heads that way. You don't have to touch heads or use infected brushes to get lice, but just be around someone with lice. I know because I had lice once back when I was a child that a friend gave to me during a sleepover (separate beds right next to each other) - we found one of the lice hanging out on my bedpost and I ended up with a lice infection after that, but we never shared brushes or touched heads or anything (I am OCD about that kind of thing). My mother warned my school so they would check my classmates for lice - apparently, they will not send you home for lice eggs in your hair (as I still had at the time, though I was being treated with the nasty-smelling shampoo), only if they find any lice walking around. It is ridiculous that the OP couldn't buy the shampoo, though!

#21, while it is probably within the cashier's legal right to refuse service, it is probably not ok with management! Generally speaking, unless the op was being dangerous or disruptive, most companies don't approve of their cashiers sending away business without a legitimate reason.

I know, right? My feelings are irreparably damaged because my entire sense of self worth is tied up in the opinion of the faceless masses on the Internet. Woe is me.
Oh, and I still think she had a good idea.

Actually, stores have the right to ban anyone unless there's a law protecting the reason. (Age, gender, etc.) There is no law protecting for head lice so there's no law being broken here. Yes, the employee should be fired, but that's a manager-issue, not a legal one.